High Steaks

ol

get to see her sister again? That Danielle might survive this terror, and one day come home? He knew that would be a lie. Nobody

h S

e if y

s little star system would resemble some kind of atom – perhaps representing a new element – one that should eventually earn a place in the next update of the periodic table under 'Wr', for weirdness... or perhaps even 'Su' for surprise

o civilize it (with dubiously inconclusive results in the case of the latter) as it turned out, had a very strange outlook on life. But then, who could blam

but most importantly, when it was actually funny. Timing, as the saying goes, is everything, and the knowledge that the Tourism Office actually had a sp

d where it was and hadn't fallen down once in the half-century since the colony was founde

me to a million plus inhabitants. The city, being the center of local government, was

e than an actual square – and very crowded at the moment, for reasons we'll go into later. It is here where our story picks up: inside the hallowed walls of the Governor's Palace, which stoo

es, and the chief of Atro City's police force – Sheriff Peggy-Ann Muller. A body occupied the space on the floor near the holographic map-table, its former occupant having earned for himself the unflattering name of Piss P

arm before uttering the fateful words "Anyone else want to be on the wrong side of history?" and Piss Pot

y locked from the inside. The reason for all this unusual drama, in brief, was because that very morning – only minutes befor

mperial throne, had met his end only about 80 meters away from where they were stan

y arrived on the Square, he turned around and blasted the bejesus out of him with a sonic-pulse pistol set on fully-automatic at a range of less than two feet! Peg was stil

he parade, had mysteriously begun to vanish in quick succession. Communications appeared to be on the fritz as well, and her attempts to contact any law enforcement units in the city were futile.

on – and blamed the assassination of Prince Justin on 'terrorists'. To top it all off, the 'General' declared martial law! Nobody seemed to be laughing, because ap

building phones were offline too. She dropped her phone on the map table in disgust. She had no idea if

s of the Palace, front and back, were the only way in or out of the building. In the absence of any secret tunnels in the basement she didn't kno

ty much all that were in the situation room – was tense. Someone had covered the body of the former imperial security liaison with a bed-sheet. White, P

elderly Mayor of San Fedora bellowe

elderly Mayor of San Fedora bellowe

chair he was sitting in, seemingly ha

l...

ces!" Sam Barthoff, Mayor of Atro City, interrupted gri

out military strategy, and in her position, never had access to information about the military, such as whether the

a military genius to know that it would be a good long time before the Terran Fleet could react or mount any kind of military intervention – and probably – if the folks outside knew

SOD's are clearly not a match for whatever is going on out there – not a soddi

minute, Governor – sir!" She bega

wearing an expression that might have been #255 Diplomatic Deadpan,

rd silen

n Deanna?" Landry repeated

eling her patience we

seeing some mention of a reservist assoc

ics, pensioner discounts, specials at the prosthetic devices counter at C.J.'s – maybe a little dynamite

aned, and sank hard into a wheelie-chair, plac

"If they can still blow the ack out cocka-snoek,

an anyone on Deanna – but for now, we've got no way to contact anyone! Perhaps, if we can find a way out of the Palace, and even the city, then we can call Shady Pa

n agreement. "First thin

the headache pills in her desk drawer back at the sta

ed Landry e